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Title: Nancy McVeigh of the Monk Road
Author: R. Henry Mainer
Release Date: June 30, 2008 [eBook #25938]
Language: English
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***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NANCY MCVEIGH OF THE MONK ROAD***
E-text prepared by Al Haines
Cover art
Cover art
"Tommy wus one o' the boys, an' a pal o' ours."
"Tommy wus one o' the boys, an' a pal o' ours."
Nancy McVeigh
OF THE MONK ROAD
BY
R. Henry Mainer
Toronto
William Briggs
1908
Copyright, Canada, 1908, by R. Henry Mainer.
These few stories of a good old
woman I dedicate to the
memory of
A. R. S. M.
who sat beside me while I wrote
them and offered many happy suggestions.
"Her face, deep lined; her eyes were gray,
Mirrors of her heart's continuous play;
Her head, crowned with a wintry sheet,
Had learned naught of this world's deceit.
She oft forgot her own in others' trials,
And met the day's rebuffs with sweetest smiles."
CONTENTS.
I. THE WOMAN OF THE INN
II. THE ANTAGONISM OF MISS PIPER
III. JOHN KEENE'S EDUCATION
IV. THE WRECK AT THE JUNCTION
V. JENNIE
VI. NANCY'S PHILOSOPHY
VII. THE STRENGTH OF TEN
VIII. A DESERTER FROM THE MONK ROAD
IX. THE KERRY DANCERS
X. THE HOMECOMING OF CORNELIUS MCVEIGH
ILLUSTRATIONS
Cover art
"Tommy wus one o' the boys, an' a pal 'o ours." . . . . Frontispiece
"'Give me that gun, Johnny,' she called softly."
"Ye can just pull down the cover, an' I'll do me own fixin'."
NANCY McVEIGH.
CHAPTER I.
THE WOMAN OF THE INN.
During the régime of Governor Monk, of Upper Canada, the military road was cut through the virgin pine from
Lake Ontario to the waters leading into Georgian Bay. The clearings followed, then the homesteads, then the corners,
where the country store and the smithy flourished in primitive dignity. The roadside hostelry soon had a place on the
highway, and deep into its centre was Nancy McVeigh's.
Nancy McVeigh's tavern was famed near and far. In earliest days the name was painted in letters bold across the
high gabled face, but years of weather had washed the paint off. Its owner, however, had so long and faithfully
dominated its destiny that it was known only as her property, and so it was named. A hill sloped gently for half a mile,
traversed by a roadway of dry, grey sand, flanked on either side by a split-rail snake fence, gradually widening into an
open space in front of the tavern. The tavern had reached an advanced stage of dilapidation. A rickety verandah in front
shaded the first story, and a gable projected from above, so that the sill almost touched the ridge-board. A row of open
sheds, facing inwards, ranged along one side of the yard, terminated by a barn, which originally had been a low log
structure, but, with the increase of trade, had been capped with a board loft. Midway between the sheds and the house
stood the pump, and whilst the owners gossiped over the brimming ale mugs within the house, the tired beasts dropped
their muzzles into the trough. Some of the passers-by were of temperate habits, and did not enter the door leading to
the bar, but accepted the refreshment offered by Nancy's pump, and thought none the less of the woman because their
principles were out of sympathy with her business. The place lived only because of its mistress, and an odd character
was she. Fate had directed her life into a peculiar channel, and she followed its course with a sureness of purpose that
brought her admiration. She was tall, raw-boned, and muscled like a man. Her face was deeply lined, patient, and
crowned with a mass of fine, fair hair turning into silvery grey, and blending so evenly that a casual observer could
scarcely discern the change of color. It was her eyes, however, that betrayed the soul within, their harshness mocking
the goodness which was known of her, and their softness at times giving the lie to the roughness which, in a life such as
hers, might be expected.
Nancy McVeigh, the tavern and the dusty Monk Road were synonymous, and to know one was to know all three.
Nancy was within the bar when two wayfarers, whose teams were drinking at the trough, entered.
"It's a foine day, Mistress McVeigh," greeted old Mr. Conors, at the sight of her.
"It is that, and more, too, Mr. Conors," she assented, including the two men before her in her remark.
"This spell o' weather's bad fer the crops. I'll have to stop at the pump altogether if it don't rain soon."
"You're welcome to your choice. If ye want a drink and can pay fer it, I am pleased to serve ye, but I ask no man
fer what he cannot afford," was Nancy's rejoinder, as she wiped her hands on her apron after drawing the mugs.
"Been to town?" she inquired, after a minute's reflection.
"Yes, and a bad place it is to save money. The women folk have so many things to buy that I often wonder where
the pay for the seed grain'll come from. Had to buy the missus a shawl, and two yards of flannel for the kids to-day, and
heaven only knows what they will be wanting next week, when school begins again," commented Mr. Conors.
"'Tis a God's blessing to have your childer, the bright, wee things! They keep us from fergittin' altogether," said
Nancy, sighing, and looking abstractedly out of the window.
"She is thinkin', poor woman," observed Mr. O'Hagan, in a low tone.
"Ye have quite a squad yerself, Nancy," ventured Mr. Conors.
"Yes," she agreed, "there's Sam Duncan's little girl. You remember big Sam, who was drowned in his own well?"
Mr. Conors nodded. "And Jennie—but she's a rare young lass now, and waits on table as well as I can do. If I could
spare her I'd send her to school, fer she needs book learnin' more than she's got at present, but it's hard work I have to
keep up the old place, and I'm not as able fer it as I was the first years after McVeigh died. Then I have Will Devitt's
boy. He's past eighteen now, and handy about the stables. If it was not fer him I'm thinkin' old Donald would never
manage at all."
"An' you'd take in the very nixt waif that comes along," declared Mr. O'Hagan.
"Maybe," answered Mistress McVeigh, thoughtfully.
Mr. Conors broke in with the question, "Where's yer own boy, Corney? It's a long while since he was about the
place with his capers and curly head. Only t'other day my missus was talkin' about the time he and my Johnny learned
to smoke behind my barn, and almost burnt the hull of us into the bargain."
A smile flitted across Nancy McVeigh's face at the recollection. "My Corney's a wonderful lad, Mr. Conors. He
doesn't take after either of his parents, fer he'd give over the best game in the world fer a book. He's livin' in Chicago,
and he writes home now and then. He's makin' lots of money, too, the scamp, but he's like his father fer spendin'.
Sometimes he borrows from me, just to tide him over, but he says that he will make enough money some day to turn the
old tavern into a mansion. Then I'll be a foine lady, with nothin' to do but sit about and knit, with a lace cap on me head,
and servants to do all the work. Though I'm afraid me old bones would never submit to that."
"Do ye believe the nonsense he writes, Mistress McVeigh?" questioned Mr. Conors.
"Aye, an' I do that, sir. It's me, his old mother, that knows the grit o' him, and the brains he has."
Tears were shining in Nancy's eyes, and she dried them on her apron, under cover of a sharp order which she
called to a maid in the dining-room.
"Ye have a rare good heart in ye, Nancy McVeigh," Mr. O'Hagan commented.
"Heart, ye call it, sor. It's a mother's heart, and nothin' else," she answered, quickly, and then continued, somewhat
bitterly, "It's nigh broke with anger and trouble this day. It's not that the work is hard, nor the trade fallin' away, for it
has kept me and mine these many years, and it'll never fail while I have me health. But my interest falls due this month."
"It's a power o' interest ye hev paid that old miser, John Keene, since McVeigh took over the tavern," Mr. Conors
observed.
"It is that, Mr. Conors, and he treats me none the better fer it. A week come Tuesday he stalks into the bar here,
and, before my customers, he threatens to put me into the road if I fail to have the amount fer him on the due date. I jest
talked back to him with no fear in me eye, and he cooled off wonderfully. I have since got the money together, and a
hundred dollars to pay on the principal, and to-morrow I'm goin' to give it to him with me compliments."
"Ye need not be afraid o' his puttin' ye out, Mistress McVeigh, begorra. He knows right well the place wouldn't be
fit to stable horses in if ye were to leave it, and then who'd pay him his dirty interest?" sagely remarked Mr. Conors.
"Well, if that ain't James Bennet comin' along the road, and tipsy, too," broke in Mr. O'Hagan, catching sight of a
new arrival from townwards.
"The likes o' him!" sniffed Nancy, contemptuously. "Not a drop will I serve him, the good-fer-nothin'! There's his
poor wife with a two-weeks-old baby, and two other childer scarce able to walk, and him carryin' on and spendin'
money as if he could afford it."
The three waited, watching in silence, whilst the semi-intoxicated fellow tumbled out of his rig and walked with
uncertain footsteps to the tavern door.
"An' what be ye wantin' the night?" spoke up Nancy, barring his entrance, and all the softness gone from her voice.
"Wantin', ye silly woman! what d'ye suppose I'd chance breakin' me neck gettin' out o' me buggy fer, but a drink o'
yer best brewed?"
"Not a drop, James Bennet. Ye needn't come round my door askin' fer liquor. You, with a sick wife and a house
full o' childer! It's a wonder ye're not ashamed. Better put yer head under the pump and then git ye home. Ye're no man
at all, James, and I've told ye so before."
"It's not refusin' an old frien', are ye, Mistress McVeigh?" Bennet asked, coaxingly.
"Ye're no frien' o' mine, I'd like ye to understand, and if Mary O'Neil had taken my advice years ago, ye'd hev
niver had the chance o' abusin' her."
"Ye're not doubtin' that I have the change?" pleaded Bennet, digging his hands deeply into his pocket, as if to prove
his statement.
"More's the pity, then, fer it should be at home with yer wife, who'd know how to keep it."
"Ye're very hard on me," he whined, edging up the steps.
"Ye may thank yer stars I'm no harder," threatened the unyielding Nancy.
"I tell ye, Mrs. McVeigh, I'm burnin' with thirst, and I'm goin' to have only one."
"Ye're not, sor."
"I will, ye old shrew! Out o' my way!" he exclaimed, with an ugly showing of temper, and moved as if to force an
entrance. But Nancy McVeigh had learned life from the standpoint of a man, and, reaching forward, she sent him
tottering from the verandah. Nor did she hesitate to follow up her advantage. With masculine swiftness and strength she
seized him by the collar, and in a trice had him head downwards in the horse-trough.
"Now will ye go home, ye vagabond?" she exclaimed, with grim certainty of her power. The man spluttered and
wriggled ineffectually for a few minutes, and then called "Enough!"
"Off with ye," she said, releasing him, but with a menace in her tones which suggested that to disobey would mean
a second ducking. The drunken coward climbed into his buggy, muttering imprecations on the head of the obdurate
hostess of the tavern as he did so. But he had no stomach for further resistance. Mr. Conors and Mr. O'Hagan had
been interested spectators, and now came forward to untie their own horses, laughing loudly at the discomfiture of
Bennet as they did so.
In the quiet of the early evening, when the modest list of boarders had eaten of the fare which the tavern provided,
with small consideration of the profits to be made, Mrs. McVeigh put on her widow's bonnet, and a shawl over her
gaunt shoulders, and, leaving a parting injunction to old Donald to tend to the bar during her absence, she set off down
the road to the Bennets'. The night was setting in darkly and suggestive of rain, and the way was lonely enough to strike
fear into the heart, but the old tavern-keeper apparently had no nerves or imagination, so confidently did she pursue her
intention to see how fared the sick wife of her troublesome customer of the afternoon.
Bennet met her at the door, and he held up his finger for quietness as he made way for her to enter. He was sober
now, and evidently in a very contrite mood. He knew it was not for him that Nancy McVeigh had come, and he
expressed no surprise. "She be worse the night," he whispered, hoarsely. Nancy shot a glance at him, half-pitying, half-
blaming, as she stepped into the dimly-lighted bedroom, where a wasted female form lay huddled, with a crying baby
nestled close beside her. Two children in an adjoining bed peeped curiously from under the edge of a ragged blanket,
and laughed outright when they saw who the visitor was.
"Go to sleep, dears," Nancy said, kindly, to hush their noisy intentions.
"It's you, Mistress McVeigh?" a weak voice asked from the sick-bed.
"It is, Mary, and how are ye?"
Mrs. Bennet was slow in answering, so her husband spoke for her, and his tones were tense with anxiety.
"She's not well at all, at all."
Nancy turned impatiently to Bennet and bade him light the kitchen fire.
"I've brought somethin' with me to make broth, and it's light food I'm sure that ye're wantin', Mary," she explained.
As soon as Bennet's back was turned, Nancy took off her wraps and drew a chair into the middle of the room.
"Give me the baby, Mary; yer arms must be weary holdin' it, and I will see if I can put it to sleep."
One thing Mrs. McVeigh's widowhood had not spoilt, and that was her motherly instincts in the handling of a baby,
and the room seemed brighter and more hopeful from the moment she began to rock, singing a lullaby in a strange,
soothing tone.
Mrs. Bennet gazed in silent gratitude for awhile, then she spoke again.
"The doctor was here."
"And what did he say?" Nancy inquired.
"I'm not goin' to get better," she faltered.
"Tut, tut, Mary! Ye're jest wearied out and blue, and ye don't know what ye say. Think of yer poor childer. What
would they do without their mother?"
"I don't know," murmured Mrs. Bennet, beginning to cry. "The doctor says I might recover if I had hospital
treatment and an operation. But it's a terrible expense. Just beyond us altogether. He said it would cost a hundred
dollars at least."
"And would ye be puttin' yer life in danger fer the sake o' a sum like that?" Nancy said, feigning great unbelief.
"It may not seem much to such as you, Mrs. McVeigh, who has a business, and every traveller spending as he
passes by, but Jim is none too saving, and with three crying babes and a rented farm it's more than we can ever hope
fer," answered Mrs. Bennet.
"Don't you worry one bit more about it, Mary. Maybe the good Lord'll find a way to help you fer the sake o' Jim
and the childer," Nancy said, encouragingly, and then she went into the kitchen to direct Bennet in the preparation of the
broth, the baby still tucked under her arm, sleeping peacefully.
It was almost midnight when Nancy arrived at the tavern. She carried a key for the front door, and passed up
through the deserted hallway to her room. A child's heavy breathing a few feet away told her that Katie Duncan was in
dreamland. Jennie had left a lamp burning low on her table, and Nancy carried it over to the cot and looked at the little
plump face of her latest adoption. "Her own mother would smile down from Hiven if she could see her now," she
thought. Presently she set the lamp back on the table, and ensconced herself comfortably in her capacious rocking-
chair. Directly in front of her, two photos were tacked on the wall, side by side, and her eyes centred upon them. One
was that of a boy, sitting upright, dressed in a suit of clothes old-fashioned in cut and a size too large for his body. The
other, that of a young man with an open, smiling countenance, a very high collar, and a coat of immaculate neatness of
fit. It was a strange contrast, but Nancy saw them through the eye of a proud mother. A debate progressed within her
mind for some time, and then she arose, with decision prominently expressed in her every movement. She unlocked a
small drawer in the ancient black walnut bureau and withdrew a tattered wallet. Returning to her seat, she carefully
spread out the contents, counting the value of each crumpled bill as she laid it on her knee.
"I'm not afeard o' old John Keene. There's sufficient to pay him his interest, and plenty left to keep Mary O'Neil at
the hospital for a month or two," she muttered. She replaced the money with a sigh, but it was of pleasure, for Nancy
never felt a pang when she had a good action to perform.
Next morning she sent Jennie over for Father Doyle, the parish priest. The good man was always pleased to call on
Nancy, because she was a life-long friend, and her solid common-sense often helped him over the many difficulties
which were continually cropping up in his work.
"It's something that has to be done at once, Father Doyle, and I think it lies with me to do it," she said, after they
had gossiped awhile.
"I've known Mary O'Neil since she was the size o' my Katie, and many a day have I watched her and my boy
Corney, as they played, before McVeigh was taken. It's no fault o' hers that their cupboard is empty, and it's something
I can do that will not lose its value because of the habits o' the husband. But ye must arrange a compact with Bennet not
to take another drop if I help him. He loves his wife and would be a good man to her if he could control his appetite."
"But ye will be damaging your trade with your precious sentiments," Father Doyle remarked, to test, in a joking
way, the principles of his charitable parishioner.
"I'm no excusin' my business, Father Doyle, and ye've known me long enough to leave off askin' me such
questions. I have never taken the bread out o' a livin' creature's mouth yet, to my knowledge, and another might run a
much, rougher house, should I give it up."
"It's only a joke, I'm telling you," put in the priest, hastily; then he added, kindly, "You are a strange woman, Nancy
McVeigh, and the road is no longer for your open doorway and the free pump. I have a mind to put in half of the
amount with you in this case, though it is only one of many that I would do something to help if I could."
"Thank ye, Father Doyle. Ye have a keen understandin' o' what is good yerself; but ye'll be sure to name the
compact with Bennet," cautioned Nancy, as she counted out fifty dollars from her assortment of bills.
"That I will," he answered.
The priest immediately went over to the Bennet place, and called the husband aside before mentioning his errand.
He had long waited for some chance to secure an advantage over his thriftless neighbor, and now that it had come he
drove it home with all the solemnity and earnestness that he could command. Bennet listened with eyes staring at the
earth, and the veins throbbing in his bared neck, until the talk had reached a point where he must promise.
"Father Doyle," he began, thickly, "I have been a sad failure since the day ye married me to Mary O'Neil, and
Nancy McVeigh's tavern has been a curse to me an' mine; but, if ye will do this fer me, I'll swear never to touch a drop
again."
"Say nothing against Mistress McVeigh. You owe her more than you think," Father Doyle interjected sharply.
"Perhaps," admitted Bennet, grudgingly.
"It's a compact, then," the priest observed, smiling away the wrinkles of severity, and they clasped hands over it.
That afternoon a covered rig passed by the tavern while the hostess was serving the wants of a few who had
stepped in.
"It's Jim Bennet, takin' his wife to the hospital. Poor thing, she'll find a deal more comfort there than in her own
home!" Nancy explained, in answer to the exclamations of curiosity.
"It's a wonder he doesn't stop for a drink," one of the bystanders remarked. But Nancy did not heed it, for she was
thinking of two children playing in the road when she had a husband to shoulder the heavier duties of life.
CHAPTER II.
THE ANTAGONISM OF MISS PIPER.
Miss Sophia Piper had passed that period of life popularly known on the Monk Road as the matrimonial age. She
had reached that second stage of unwed womanhood when interest in material things supersedes that of sentiment. She
no longer sighed as she gazed down the stretch of walk, lined with rose hedge, that led from the verandah of her Cousin
James' home to the Monk Road gateway, for there was no one in the wide world who might desire to catch her waiting
on the step. Bachelors, especially young ones, were a silly set to her, useful only to girls who had time to waste on them.
Her time was too precious, and she prided herself somewhat on the fact.
True, she had had her day. She well remembered that, and even boasted of it. Off-hand she could name a half-
dozen men who once would have accepted the custody of her heart with alacrity, but she was too discerning. The Piper
standard on the feminine side of the family was raised high, and he must be an immortal, indeed, who climbed to its
dizzy height. She was past thirty-five, and had no regrets. She was a close student of the Bible, and brought one text
from it into her own life. "When I was a child I played as a child, but now that I am old I have put aside childish things."
She often quoted this in defence of her industrious maidenhood.
She really felt that she had an object in life to accomplish, one that was wider than personal benefit. She occupied
the chair as President of the Church Aid. For five years she had been the delegate to the County Temperance
Convention. She was also a regular contributor to the religious columns of a city newspaper, and she held many other
responsible duties within her keeping. Then, her cousin, James Piper, had three children to bring up properly, and their
mother was dead. This work, along with the superintendence of the domestic features of his home, gave her plenty to fill
up any spare time which she might have had. She took a pardonable pride in her station in the little community that
knew her, yet above all she strove to exercise a fitting humility of spirit.
Her face was a pleasant one to see, shapely almost to prettiness, but growing thin and sharp-featured; though
bright, smiling eyes made her appear more youthful than her years. Her hair, smoothed back from her forehead, was
streaked with grey, and harmonized perfectly with the purity of her countenance.
Despite her brave front and ever-abundant faculty to console others, she had known trouble of a kind that would
have crushed others of weaker nature. From early girlhood she had been alone, her parents having died within a year of
each other before she had passed her fifteenth birthday. She had no sisters, and her only brother had widened the gap
between them by a life of recklessness.
Tom Piper was the exact antithesis of his sister. A good fellow with everybody, and liked accordingly; none too
particular in his choice of comrades; a spendthrift, and unable to apply himself for long at any one occupation, 'twas a
fortunate circumstance that Cousin James took in his orphan sister, otherwise she would have had the additional burden
of poverty to harass her endeavors to sustain the respectability of the family. Tom might also have made his home with
his cousin, but he showed no inclination to accept such charity. He was older than his sister, and quite able to take care
of himself, so he thought. He secured work with a firm of timber contractors, and almost immediately disappeared into
the wide expanse of pine in northern Ontario. Occasionally he wrote to his sister, and in his letters his big heart stood
out so clearly that even her strict code of propriety could not stay the tears of sympathy which blotted his already
bedaubed scribbling. When spring came, and the logs had been rafted down the river, leaving the timber men a few
months of well-earned idleness, Tom's first action was to hasten out to the Monk Road to visit Sophia, and a very
unconventional caller he proved to be. The rough life had taken off much of his exterior polish, but otherwise he was the
same good-natured Tom, generous to a fault, and, therefore, blessed with but little to give. These were grand
opportunities for Sophia, and she lectured him roundly for his loose habits. She told him that he could have a good
position in the neighboring town, and society more in keeping with the ancestors of the Pipers, should he so desire. But
he always answered her with a laugh that echoed strangely through the quiet decorum of Cousin Jim's big house, then he
kissed her for her advice.
"Never fear, little girl, I will never do any great harm either to you or the family. It is my way of enjoying life, and I
guess I am a free agent. But keep on in your good work, and it will do for the both of us. I have brought something with
me to brighten your eyes, sister. This will buy new clothes for you."
While he spoke, he counted out and handed over to her a large share of his winter's wages. This always made
Sophia cry, and she would forget her scoldings for the balance of his stay.
As Tom grew older, tales travelled ahead of him, of his reckless spending and his drinking while in town. Cousin
Jim heard them first, and he took Tom to task sharply whenever he met him. Then Sophia learned the truth, and her
heart was almost broken. She prayed for her brother, and wept over him when he came to see her, and was rewarded
with promises which were broken as soon as her influence had worn off. Gradually a coldness grew between them.
Tom, obstinately set in his way, and angry at the continued interference of his sister and cousin; Sophia hurt by his
neglect and bitter from the sting of his disgraceful conduct; and Cousin Jim, hard, matter-of-fact business man that he
was, refused to extend even the courtesy of a speaking acquaintance. So affairs ran along very unhappily, until, at last,
Sophia determined to forget that Tom was her brother, and henceforth she put her whole soul into a crusade against sin,
and Nancy McVeigh's tavern soon came under the ban of her displeasure.
Nancy's place was four miles from town on the Monk Road, and Tom Piper had found it a convenient spot for rest
and refreshment, both going and returning from his visit to Cousin Jim's. Sophia had often warned him against the house,
saying that it was an evil den, peopled with the thriftless scourings of the countryside, and presided over by a sort of
human she-devil, who waited by the window to coax wayfarers in to buy her vile drinks. Tom answered by repeating
some of the good acts traceable to Nancy McVeigh's door. He explained to her that the hostess was just a poor, hard-
worked woman, who reaped small reward for her labors, and divided what she got with any who might be in need of it.
He also told of waifs whom Nancy had mothered and fed from her own cupboard until they were old enough to shift for
themselves. But Sophia was firm in her convictions, and only permitted herself to know one side of the story.
"No good can come out of that tavern," she had said, with a stamp of her foot and a fire in her eye that forbade
contradiction.
Through the vale of years Sophia never forgot the grudge, and when she made herself an influence in the highest
circles of reform, she turned with grim persistence to the agitation for the cancelling of the tavern license.
Nancy McVeigh, the woman against whom this thunderbolt was to be launched, kept patiently at her work. She
had heard of the efforts being put forth, and often wondered why the great people bothered about one of so little
consequence as herself. She did not fight back, as she had nothing to defend, but waited calmly, telling her neighbors,
when they came to gossip, that they need not worry her with news of it at all.
Sophia championed her pet theme at the County Convention, and carried it to an issue where she and a committee
were empowered to wait on the License Board with a strong plea in favor of the abolition of the tavern. The three stout
gentlemen who listened to their petition were all good men who had families of their own and wanted as little evil as
possible abroad to tempt their boys from the better path. They gave a long night's deliberation to the question, and then
brought in a verdict that they would extend Nancy's rights for another year. Sophia was completely overcome by the
decision, and straightway sought out one of the Commissioners, a friend of Cousin Jim's, whom she knew quite
intimately.
"Why did you do it?" she asked wrathfully.
"My dear Miss Piper," he replied, "perhaps you have not realized that Nancy McVeigh has a heart as big as a
bushel basket, and we can find no instance where she has abused the power which she holds. If we take it away from
her, some other will step into her place, and he might be ten times worse."
Sophia brought the interview to a close very abruptly, and went home angry and unshaken in her resolve; but an
unexpected event changed the course of her meditation. Cousin Jim was planning a winter's stay in California for her
and his children. She needed the rest and change, and so did the youngsters. Their preparations were completed in a
few days, and the big house was closed. Thus the questions which had raised such an excitement were shelved for a
more convenient season.
It was in the spring of the next year that Jennie, Nancy McVeigh's adopted daughter, brought her the news from
town of Tom Piper's illness.
"The poor fellow's goin' fast, wi' consumption, and he's at the 'ospital. It was Dan Conors who told me, an' he said,
'Tom hasn't a dollar fer the luxuries he requires,'" Jennie explained. Nancy's face relaxed somewhat from its habitually
austere expression when Jennie had finished.
"The idee o' that lad dyin', forsaken like that, an' his own sister gallivantin' about California. It's past me
understandin' entirely," she remarked, as she fastened on her widow's bonnet and threw her heavy shawl over her
shoulders.
"Tell Will Devitt to harness the mare, and I'll go and see what can be done fer him."
Nancy arrived at the hospital late in the afternoon, and was admitted to the sick man's bedside. She found him
delirious and unable to recognize her, but instead he called her "Sophia."
"It's so good of you to come, Sophia. I knew you would," he kept repeating as he clasped her hand in his. All that
night Nancy stayed by him, attending to his wants with the skill of a mother, and soothing him by her words.
In the morning he died.
"I guess it will be the potter's field," the hospital doctor told her, when she inquired about the burial. "He came here
almost penniless, and has been in the ward six weeks."
Nancy gazed into space while she made some hasty mental computations. "What balance is due ye?" she asked,
suddenly.
The doctor produced a modest bill, at half the current rate, amounting to twenty-five dollars. It meant a good
week's business out of Nancy's pocket, but she paid it without objection. "I want the body sent to my tavern out on the
Monk Road, sir, and ye can complete all arrangements fer a decent Christian funeral, an' I'll pay all the expenses," she
said, before leaving. She went to the telegraph office and left instructions to wire to all the known addresses of Miss
Sophia Piper; then, satisfied with her day's work, she hurried home.
The tavern bar was closed during the two days while the body lay in the little parlor, and callers came and went on
tiptoe, and spoke only in whispers. A steady stream of roughly dressed people, river-men and their friends, struggled
over the four miles of snowy road to pay their last respects to the dead, and some brought flowers bundled awkwardly
in their arms.
The night preceding the funeral, two great, long-limbed fellows, wearing top-boots, came stumbling into the tavern,
more noisily because of their clumsy efforts at gentleness. Nancy knew them as former friends of Tom Piper, so she led
them in at once. The men took the limit of the time usually spent there, and yet they were loath to go, and Nancy
guessed that they had something further to say but scarcely knew how to commence. She encouraged them a little, and
finally one spoke up.
"Ye see, Mistress McVeigh, Tommy wus one o' the boys, an' a pal o' ours, an' we hate to see ye stuck for the full
expenses o' this funeral. God knows we owe him plenty fer the generous way he stayed by his mates, an' we don't want
him receivin' charity from no one. We had a meetin' o' the lot o' us down town las' night, and every man put in his share
to make Tom right with the world. We've got fifty-five dollars here, and we want ye to take it."
The men counted out the money on the table, silver and bills of small amounts, until it made quite an imposing pile,
then they placed a piece of paper upon it, with the words, written very badly, "For Tommy, from his pals."
They looked towards Nancy, and her averted face was wet. She did not sob, yet tears were streaming down her
cheeks.
Sophia Piper was home in ten days, having received a message after considerable delay. The resident minister met
her at the station and comforted her as well as his kindly soul knew how. He told her all the circumstances connected
with the death and burial of her brother, and took particular pains to place Nancy McVeigh's part in it in its true light, as
he had a warm spot in his heart for the old tavern-keeper. They drove together out to the home of Cousin Jim, where
the servants had opened the house in preparation for their coming. The weather-stained gable of Nancy McVeigh's
tavern, like some old familiar face, came into view by the way, and Sophia asked to be set down at the door.
Nancy, tall, angular and sympathetic, walked into her parlor to meet her guest.
The minister did not stay, but left them together, the younger woman sobbing on the breast of the older, who bent
over and stroked the troubled head softly.
CHAPTER III.
JOHN KEENE'S EDUCATION.
"If the world had no mean people, there'd be little use fer kindness," remarked Nancy McVeigh to Moore, the
operator at the railway junction, who always enjoyed a smoke and a half-hour chat with his hostess after his midday
meal. They were discussing the escapades of young John Keene in the little parlor upstairs, whither Mistress McVeigh
had gone to complete a batch of home-knit socks for her son, Cornelius, who lived in Chicago.
"I can't understand such a difference in the natures of father and son," Moore continued, after Nancy's interruption.
"The father starts life penniless, without education, friends or business training. He settles in a locality where the majority
of his neighbors find it a heart-breaking struggle to make ends meet, and amasses a fortune. Such a performance in a
country where business is brisk and natural facilities favorable to the manipulations of a clever man would not be so
surprising, but we all know the Monk Road has no gold mines or streams of commerce to disturb its dreamlike
serenity."
A tone of irony pervaded Moore's words, for he was past forty, and had but a paltry bank account and a living
salary to show for his ten years' sojourn in the place.
"Compare the father's record with that of his son. The boy is given all the advantages that money can obtain, and
plenty of time for growth, and he has also the example of his parent. Why, the lad was the terror of the school, never
out of mischief, and costing his father a pretty sum to keep him from serious consequences. Before he was fifteen he
spent his Saturdays carousing with the wildest set in the town, and incidentally built up a very unenviable reputation.
Then he was sent to a city college. Did you hear the rumors that came back of what he did there?"
"There was some talk," Nancy agreed.
"Talk! Mistress McVeigh; downright scandal, I should call it! I know he was expelled for attending a party at the
Principal's own home in an intoxicated condition, and afterwards fighting with a teacher who undertook to reprimand
him."
Nancy looked up from her knitting, and an amused twinkle was in her eyes.
"The lad sowed wild oats sure enough, Mr. Moore, and good, tall ones, with full heads at that, but he's only an
image o' his father, in that old John's recklessness runs to makin' money, and young John's to spendin'. It's not that I like
bringin' up bygones, but the father was a bit loose in his day, too. I can remember, before old John married, he would
come from town takin' the width o' the road fer his path, and singin' at the top o' his voice something he learnt out o' a
Burns' book o' poetry. It was the wife that he brought from the city, bless her good soul, that turned his work into a
gold-mine. She guided him out o' his evil way and kept him hard at his dealin's from morning till night. It'll be the same
with young John. He's spendin' his money now, and makin' the whole countryside ring with his pranks, but a foine miss'll
spy him out some day, and then his mind'll forget his throat and dwell on his pocket. He'll never fail, fer he takes after
his mother in the face, and she was the envy of the people the length o' the Monk Road, and farther. It's an old woman
I'm gettin' now, an' I've watched many young men developin' character, an' I'm just a bit o' a judge. Ye'll admit I've had
a grand opportunity to study their evil side, and what I don't see is told me by the neighbors; then their good side turns
up after awhile, like a rainbow after a shower. I find it takes wise men to be really bad ones, but, after they've learnt
their lesson, they see what a dried-up skeleton an evil life is, and then it's a race to make up fer their wasted years.
Course, if a fool is led into idle habits, he must be led out again, and it's doubtful whether the process is very purifyin'.
But it's different when a man like John Keene's son sees the error o' his ways. I tell ye, Mr. Moore, it's only a question
o' time, an' young John'll be as set as his father, but he'll no be as tight, I'm thinkin'. He's got his mother's heart, ye
know."
"You have rare assurance in the strength of human nature, Mistress McVeigh. Perhaps it is because you're fairly
strong in that quarter yourself," commented Mr. Moore, after he had digested Nancy's crude philosophy.
A smile crept into the corners of Nancy's mouth at the compliment, and she let it rest there a few minutes before
replying.
"Ye've noticed that young John's a regular visitor at the tavern lately?" she asked.
"I have."
"Doubtless ye think I'm profitin' mightily with the money he passes over my bar."
"The gain will do you no good if you are," Moore declared, stoutly. His hostess was a very plain-spoken woman,
and he knew that he could be equally outspoken and yet incur no disfavor.
Nancy lingered over his remark, carefully revolving its significance in her mind before attempting to defend herself.
"Tavern-keepin' is a mighty peculiar business, Mr. Moore. Ye're open to a lot o' criticism, and sometimes ye know
in yer heart it's not quite fair. When I was married, my friends thought the inn would be a foine chance fer us to get
along, so McVeigh bought it. I cooked good vittals, and waited on table meself in those days, an' times were brisk,
because the railroad was bein' built past our door. Then McVeigh died, an' I had to stay by the old place, because I
had nowhere else to go. 'Twas after that people began accusin' me o' fattenin' on the bones o' their misfortunes. And
d'ye know why?"
Moore remained silent, but his looks were expectant, so Nancy continued: "Because I was makin' enough money
to pay me debts with and keep a respectable house. I have always endeavored to give honest value, and let no man go
beyond his means in the spendin'. Of course, I must have my trade, fer my expenses are high, seein' that I keep a few
children about me whom nobody else wants, an' I have my Corney to do fer occasionally, but I never made more'n I
could comfortably get along with. My interest to John Keene is no such a small item, an' why should I refuse if the son
helps me to pay it with his trade? It's no so unjust, ye see. But, for all that, I have a mother's love for young John. Ever
since he was ten years old I have carried him into town in me buggy, wheniver he had a mind to go. Ye see, he an' me
had some great talks then, an' since he brings all his troubles to me. While other people have been blamin' him fer his
capers I've been makin' up my mind whether he will turn into the right again or no."
"And what think you about him now?" questioned Moore, won into a more conciliatory frame of mind.
"Ye can mark my words, Mr. Moore, the day is not far distant when young John Keene'll be the most respected
man in the country."
Moore laughed doubtfully as he said, "I hope so," and then hurried out, for it was past the hour when he should be
at work. The day was very warm, and the sun's rays smote the grey sand of the Monk Road, reflecting back with
trebled intensity. The traffic had ceased completely, and the quietness of Nancy McVeigh's tavern was undisturbed. Old
Donald lay asleep in the haymow above the barn. Will Devitt had gone to town early in the morning, and Jennie and
Katie Duncan were over at the cool edge of the lake, which lay a half-mile down the side road. Nancy was still sitting in
the little parlor, but her knitting had dropped from her fingers, her eyes were closed, and her head pillowed against the
chair-back.
A sudden noise awakened her, and going to the top of the stairs she saw two ladies hesitating in the entrance, as if
they wished to come in but were somewhat doubtful of their welcome. One she recognized as Miss Sophia Piper, the
housekeeper for James Piper, who owned the big house down the road; the other was a much younger woman and a
stranger.
"Come up to my parlor, ladies," she invited, wondering what meant this unexpected visit.
"Thank you, Mrs. McVeigh," called Miss Piper, and the two of them ascended the stairs and took the seats which
Nancy pushed into the middle of the room, dusting them carefully with her apron as she did so. Miss Piper had shown a
kindly feeling to Nancy ever since the death of her brother Tom, and she addressed the tall, grey-haired woman before
her with a cordiality of manner and a lack of reserve unusual in her conversations with the commoners of the
countryside.
"I hope you are well, Mrs. McVeigh," she began, as she seated herself comfortably.
"I'm not complainin', miss," Nancy answered.
"I've brought my dear friend Miss Trevor with me because we are both very anxious to do a little missionary work
for the benefit of a mutual acquaintance whom we are interested in," Miss Piper explained with winning directness.
"Indade, Miss Piper, an' ye think I can help ye, doubtless."
"Yes, we are sure of it. It's Mr. Keene that we wish to speak about."
"Ye mean young John, of course," Nancy interrupted, as a smile gathered slowly over her rugged face.
"Young Mr. Keene, yes. I was his Sunday-school teacher, years ago, but since then, I am afraid, I have lost touch
with him, until recently, when Miss Trevor brought him back to my mind."
"It's about his drinking," Miss Piper continued, nervously, as if at a loss to know how to broach the subject without
giving offence.
"Ye come to blame me fer servin' him, I suppose?" Nancy suggested, without the slightest trace of animosity in her
tones.
"We don't blame you, Mrs. McVeigh. Please do not misunderstand our intentions. The fact is, we know you to be
—er—different from most women, and your house is your living, but Mr. Keene is a young man with an exceptionally
bright future, if he will only settle down to it. I have heard a great deal about you, Mrs. McVeigh, and I know the
goodness of your heart from the part you took at Brother Tom's death. We were sure of your co-operation, and that is
why we have come to you."
"And what can I do?" Nancy asked, kindly.
"Stop his drinking, please," burst out the younger woman, impetuously, and then she blushed furiously, while Miss
Piper frowned. Nancy, however, let the remark pass unnoticed, and asked, with feigned innocence, "Is he yer young
man, Miss Trevor?"
The girl, for she was easily under twenty-one, was more embarrassed than ever at the keen intuition of the old
tavern-keeper, and an awkward silence ensued, during which Miss Piper vainly tried to say something to bring the
conversation back to more conventional lines.
"Do you love him?" Nancy questioned further, relentless in her desire to enjoy the privileges of being a confidant in
Miss Piper's plans.
Miss Trevor would have answered haughtily enough if it had been an ordinary acquaintance who thus probed into
her secrets, but the strong, trustful influence of this woman humbled her into a school-girl demeanor.
"Yes," she answered, simply, and Miss Piper became more uncomfortable.
"Does he know it?" Nancy persisted.
"No,—er—perhaps. Oh, Mrs. McVeigh, you seem to have taken all my sense out of me," the girl gasped,
helplessly, and covered her crimson face with her handkerchief.
"I'm glad to know this. Begging your pardon, Miss Piper, but if you come to me fer advice I must have more than
half-truths. I've known Johnny Keene since he was a baby, and it's little good I've to his credit either, but I'm no sayin'
it's not there. He takes after his mother, ye know. He's about run his course, and if Miss Trevor will take the word of an
ould woman, who has learned from long experience, I'm thinkin' he'll be a good man fer her."
"You think so?" asked Miss Piper, brightening up.
"I'm sure of it, miss; it's in the blood, so it is."
The three women were now on a basis of plain understanding, and the balance of the conversation was easier and
productive of results. After the two had departed, Nancy sat a long time gazing out of the window, and pondering the
situation which had arisen. She did not entertain a doubt as to the ultimate fulfilment of her prophecies, but she
wondered how long. The afternoon waned into evening, and she had a grand opportunity to knit and think, which two
occupations were her chief enjoyments.
After supper, the usual company dropped into the bar. It was the common meeting-place for gossip and good-
fellowship, and during the early hours Will Devitt did a lively business. But a curious change was taking place within
Nancy McVeigh. From her rocker, in the rear apartment, where she and the girls spent their evenings, she could hear
the loud laughs and talking that passed between her customers, mingled with the clink of glasses, and the noise was
offensive to her. The thought repeated itself in her mind, Was the continued harassing of her teetotaller friends
awakening a new phase in her life? For the first time, perhaps, since her deceased husband had bought the tavern, her
surrounding's appeared distasteful, and almost sordid. More than once she arose and walked into the bar, where her
presence was the signal for doffing of caps and a lowering of voices. She went for no particular purpose, and the men
who were buying her liquor were surprised at the frown and curt replies which they received to their greetings.
"Nancy's in a bad humor," blurted one old fellow, who was a nightly caller, as she turned her back. Mistress
McVeigh heard the remark, and it aroused her anger more than she would have cared to admit. She retraced her steps,
and her glance wandered severely over the half-dozen men present.
"Ye should be at home with yer wife, Mr. Malone, and not wastin' yer toime waitin' about my premises fer some
one to buy ye a drink," she said to the man who had spoken.
Malone laughed foolishly, and treated her words as a joke. He was on the verge of a maudlin state, and prepared
to contest his rights to be there.
"Another drink, Mr. Devitt, and a glass all round," he blustered, throwing a piece of silver on to the bar.
"No, Mr. Malone, ye have had yer fill, an' it's no more ye'll git the night," Nancy insisted.
Malone grumbled a reply, and some of the others took sides with him, and their demands were aggressively loud.
"I tell ye, it's no more liquor'll be served in this bar to-night," Nancy again declared, and stepping from behind, she
began a steady movement towards the door. The men shot a few irresolute glances at Will Devitt, but his face gave no
encouragement to disobey, and gradually they dispersed, all but Malone, who had a wish to be troublesome. His mutiny
was short-lived, however, for Nancy's fingers suddenly clutched his collar, and she precipitated him on to the verandah,
with scarce an apparent effort.
"I'm not well the night, Will, and the noise hurts my head," she explained to Will Devitt, as she passed into her
sitting-room.
A crunching of wheels sounded from the roadway, and presently a rig came to a stop in the open sheds. Boisterous
talking ensued, and then four young men came into the light of the hallway. They were all well dressed, and of a different
class to the usual run of custom.
"Ho, Mistress McVeigh, a room please, and a few bottles of the best in your house." Almost simultaneously Nancy
appeared, and a tolerant smile again hovered in the corners of her mouth.
"Faith, an' are ye back again, John Keene?" she asked.
"I am, most assuredly; who could pass your welcome doorway without dropping in?" young John answered,
laughing.
"It's high...
